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FREEDOM IN PRACTICE
We are interested in projects which go beyond theory, that apply these insights in the lives of real people and promote greater freedom and prosperity.
At Rising Tide Foundation, we believe the market economy, in concert with limited government and rule of law, holds the greatest promise of freedom and prosperity for all. Markets enhance individual flourishing by coordinating diverse interests through voluntary and peaceful exchange. The greatest advancements in human history result from such interactions between individuals who are free to act, exchange, and create value for themselves and others, not from the use of force or top-down planning of the state.
Poverty, in our opinion, cannot be “managed” by redistributing a perceived “finite” pie of wealth, nor by gaining control over limited resources. Instead, prosperity is when society respects the dignity of each person and his or her right to act as a moral agent. We seek to unleash this potential by supporting projects that open networks of productivity and exchange to the previously excluded. We believe that individuals in poverty must see themselves as active agents, not passive victims. They must seek and be given empowerment, not paternalistic protection as the key to prosperity.
Personal freedom and the free market economy, as ideals, are continuously threatened by the power of big-government and big-business, intervening to enhance “social justice”, “equity “, or “efficiency” in markets. But these efforts end up leading to the kind of crony capitalism that is so prevalent today – a system that claims to help everyone but benefits only the few at the expense of the many; it is a system that manages rather than solves poverty.
Our philanthropic strategy is to support projects that articulate and promote these core beliefs, projects that eliminate the obstacles which impede creative individuals, projects that give a “hand-up,” rather than just a “hand-out”.
Specifically, we seek to find projects that:
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Develop private sector solutions to societal problems
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Offer solutions to the problems created by government and crony capitalist interventions. Projects that offer strategies for making such interventions unnecessary and unattractive going forward
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Design and implement programs that enhance individuals’ capacities for self-determination, individual choice, and peaceful, voluntary cooperation in society
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Discover methods to teach freedom in more effective ways or to new, untapped audiences
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A selection of current projects and their descriptions, explaining how they fit in our funding areas, are available here.
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Please find more details about our funding focus in the following documents:
OUR FUNDING AREAS
1. PRIVATE SECTOR SOLUTIONS
Develop private sector solutions to societal problems.
3. EMPOWERMENT OF INDIVIDUALS
Design and implement programs that enhance individuals’ capacities for self-determination, individual choice, and peaceful, voluntary cooperation in society.
2. SYSTEM CHANGE
Offer solutions to the problems created by government and crony capitalist interventions. Projects that offer strategies for making such interventions unnecessary and unattractive going forward.
4. TEACHING FREEDOM
Discover methods to teach freedom in new ways to untapped audiences.
PROJECT EXAMPLES
“The Khaya Lam project has developed a system to register the rights of homeowners. This enables the “new homeowners” to trade their property in any way they please. The Khaya Lam project not only restores property rights, but it also reduces the power of officials.”
- Jasson Urbach
SYSTEM CHANGE
THE KHAYA LAM
Organization: Free Market Foundation
Country: South Africa
As a result of one of South Africa’s most notorious pieces of legislation, the 1913 Natives Land Act that was adopted more than a century ago, most black South Africans still do not have titles to property inland. To rectify the situation, the Free Market Foundation (FMF) launched the Khaya Lam project in 2013, which aims to bring about the titling of all the apartheid-era properties in which black families had and still have occupation rights, but not title deeds.
Khaya Lam believes that homeownership is an important key to wealth creation and economic empowerment; it is only through tradable title deeds that homeowners can reap the benefits of legally owning and occupying their homes. The Khaya Lam project is a significant step towards unleashing the “dead cap - ital” accumulated under apartheid. Most importantly, it is a completely liberating action that will sweep away one of the last major vestiges of the iniquitous apartheid system – the prohibition upon the ownership of land by black South Africans.
The primary purpose of the project is thus to redress the past injustices and restore dignity to families who were previously denied the fundamental right to own their own properties. The project continues the FMF’s defense and promotion of property rights, especially for black South Africans. More specifically, this project puts into practice what the FMF has long espoused: property rights are a fundamental component of a free and prosperous society.
The total number of RTF transfers to date is 600 (100 in 2016 + 250 in 2018 + 250 in 1H2019). An additional 250 are in the process of being registered with the Deeds Registry and will be ready by December. Since the RTF sponsorship of 100 in 2016 – and excluding the 1,500 RTF subsequently sponsored – the project has raised approximately R5.2 million (approximately USD340,818).
“CCB for Miners teaches participants MIT D-Lab’s design process so that they can become key agents in their own lives, designing, building, and ideating technologies and businesses that are capable of solving seemingly insurmountable problems artisanal and small-scale miners are facing in their communities.”
- Libby McDonald
PRIVATE SECTOR SOLUTION
EMPOWERMENT OF INDIVIDUALS
CREATIVE CAPACITY BUILDING WITH MINING COMMUNITIES
Organization: MIT D-Lab
Country: Colombia
To promote safer, healthier, and more equitable participation in regional mining economies in Antioquia, Colombia, MIT D-Lab, with support from the Rising Tide Foundation, has launched a 2-year program that trains Colombian artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM) to develop sustainable solutions to ASGM-related health and environmental challenges. In addition, to promote economic diversification, the program enhanced the capacity for self-determination by sparking entrepreneurial efforts and yielding networks of businesses outside of the mining sector. With over 15
years of inclusive innovation experience, MIT D-Lab has leveraged its in-house expertise and Colombian partnerships to implement a comprehensive program that generates opportunities for co-creating technology and business solutions with multiple stakeholders,
including miners themselves. The initiative utilizes a unique D-Lab methodology called “Creative Capacity Building” (CCB). Creative Capacity Building is an inclusive approach to human development that teaches a flexible method for problem-solving, exposing individuals to a framework that can be used to solve everyday
challenges as well as provide concrete, hands-on skills to build and iterate technological and business solutions to those challenges.
Throughout the two-year program, miners will take part in a series of CCB trainings, both on technology and business design, and will have access to tailored coaching through local innovation spaces.
This approach allows participants to become active solution-finders rather than passive recipients. The expected results include, but are not limited to, the creation of technologies and businesses that produce economic and health benefits for artisanal and small-scale miner participants.
At the close of the project, MIT D-Lab and its local partners Universidad Nacional, Uniminuto, and C-Innova will have trained 250 small-scale gold miners in CCB for designing technology and businesses. These participants are drawn from two mining regions in Antioquia Colombia: Andes and Bajo Cauca (locations with very different approaches to mercury use in mining). Ultimately, MIT D-Lab anticipates that 10-20 new ventures will emerge from these trainings, developing and offering new technologies and approaches that improve the safety, health, and livelihoods of people living in these communities.
“The rising generation is perhaps the biggest untapped audience in the freedom movement, and content like the Free Market Rules curriculum can take the message of freedom to young people as an investment in our society's future.”
- Connor Boyack
TEACHING FREEDOM
APPLIED FREE MARKET LEARNING BY FAMILIES IN THE HOME
Organization: Libertas Institute
Country: United States
The ideas of a free society have long been communicated to adults around the world by various individuals and organizations, but this has often been a lagging effort; school systems typically do not teach liberty-friendly ideas, therefore our target audience has always been exposed for many years to ideas and perspectives that are often hostile to liberty.
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Several years ago, Connor Boyack began publishing the Tuttle Twins books to address this problem and communicate the ideas of a free society to the rising generation. Over a dozen books have now been published, with translations in 10 languages and over half a million copies sold around the world.
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But publishing infrequent books is not enough — deeper learning is needed, and widely, in order to help young people understand why free markets are important and how they work. With the support of the Rising Tide Foundation and building on the Tuttle Twins brand, Libertas Institute launched "Free Market Rules" — a weekly, digital curriculum for entire families, with children of all ages, to learn about free market economics.
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Curated content, with age-appropriate activities for children of different ages, is provided each week. All families start with the basics, and progressively learn more advanced ideas as they continue through the curriculum, helping reinforce and deepen their understanding of free market ideas. With discussion questions and activities for families, the collaborative learning format enables family members to understand the ideas together, increasing the likelihood that they will be discussed and applied by members of the family far into the future.
“The Cloud Center not only provides youth with practical skills to improve their employability and self-sufficiency but also demonstrates that given the proper training and resources, motivated but marginalized youth have the capacity to learn the advanced IT skills that will help them fill the jobs gap in the technology sector.”
- Jeremy Hockenstein
PRIVATE SECTOR SOLUTION
EMPOWERMENT OF INDIVIDUALS
ACCELERATING DDD’s CLOUD COMPUTING TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT
Organization: Digital Data Divide
Country: Kenya
Digital Divide Data (DDD) is a non-profit, social enterprise committed to building long-term and scalable solutions to youth unemployment. In Cambodia, Laos, and Kenya—countries where DDD operates— the biggest challenge is the lack of access to quality jobs in the formal sector. Because of low educational attainment and inadequate professional skills, the underserved youth in these countries often find themselves unemployed or employed in the informal sector. Moreover, they remain in the intergenerational poverty that keeps them from escaping subsistence living. In response, DDD pioneered the Impact Sourcing model as a means to provide youth with access to higher education, professional skills development, and formal employment in the IT sector.
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In 2017, DDD launched an ambitious initiative in Kenya to harness the potential of emerging technologies to upgrade its associates’ IT skills and thus boost their employability. DDD founded the Kenya Cloud Center of Excellence to train, employ, and certify youth in cloud computing services. After 6 months of intensive cloud training, associates become certified Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud engineers. An AWS Certification opens a whole new area of opportunity for DDD associates and is a credential they can continue to leverage throughout their careers.
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With support from the Rising Tide Foundation, DDD is training 240 young Kenyans in cloud computing administration skills, who would otherwise not have access to specialized IT training and subsequent job opportunities. With their AWS training and certification, these youth are in-demand applicants in the job market due to the limited qualified labor pool in Kenya and worldwide for this particular technical skill. Upon their completion of the course, these youth are supported to secure jobs in the local IT industry and at DDD. Through DDD’s Cloud Center of Excellence, youth in Kenya will enhance their employability in the tech sector and their ability to command a salary that can better help them support themselves and their families.
“LITE empowers minority students with key 21st-century skills not being taught in schools so they have the ability to compete in the workforce, build technologies and businesses that change the economic landscape in their city, and build wealth in their communities long-term.”
- Lakethia Glenn
EMPOWERMENT OF INDIVIDUALS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND 21ST CENTURY SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE
Organization: Let's Innovate Through Education
Country: United States
Memphis, Tennessee has a storied history of segregation, institutional racism, and policies that have disenfranchised people of color for centuries. At one time, Memphis, Tennessee was the lifeblood of the slave trade that dominated the economy of the South. Economic growth for people of color in the city is largely limited. Less than 1% of all business revenue in the city of Memphis comes from businesses owned by African Americans and Latinx individuals, yet 70% of the population belongs to these demographics. The poverty rate for African American children within the city is a staggering 52.2%. The 25 largest African-American owned businesses in Memphis collectively employ 1,200 people in a city with a labor force of over 400,000. The wealth gap between white families and black families decreases from a factor of 13 to a factor of 3 when a black family has a business owner. Furthermore, black business owners’ net worth is on average 12 times higher than black non-business owners.
LITE has produced a model that effectively develops key 21st-century skills in minority youth, giving them the skills to lift themselves out of poverty and stimulate their local economy through business solutions. We differ from other self-empowerment entrepreneurship programs in two key ways: First, we teach practical application, not abstract concepts. Many programs teach students theoretical solutions to problems and miss the key experiential learning, and self-empowerment that comes with creation and execution. Through LITE, students launch a business that can generate revenue and demonstrate an ROI. 17% of our Innovation Fellows from our first cohort (2013) are still generating revenue from businesses they launched through our High School Finalist program six years ago. Secondly, we provide long-term support that maximizes the potential for success. Most youth programs offer interventions up until the age of 18 or through interventions lasting less than six months. According to a study by Richard Fairlie with the GATES experiment, entrepreneurial education programs have no long-term effect on business success when those interventions are less than six months. Our pipeline provides eight years of support for each student with targeted programming aimed at building the next generation of self-empowered workers, entrepreneurs and leaders.
“Root Capital’s work in Mexico and Central America is equipping young people with the tools they need to knock down barriers and create economic prosperity in their communities through the power of small and growing businesses.”
- Willy Foote
SYSTEM CHANGE
EMPOWERMENT OF INDIVIDUALS
PRIVATE SECTOR SOLUTION
INVESTING IN YOUTH IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Organization: Root Capital
Country: Mexico / Central America
According to the World Bank, growth in the agricultural sector is two to four times as effective at reducing poverty as in any other sector. But farming communities are in crisis. When the average farmer age is over 60 and youth unemployment tops 40%, these communities risk losing their workforce—and future innovators—to migration. This problem is particularly acute in Mexico and Central America, which have been hit particularly hard in recent years by natural disasters and political instability.
Long-term health for these communities comes from the small and growing agricultural enterprises that aggregate smallholder farmers and connect them to larger markets. These businesses supply vital inputs to farmers, introduce climate-smart agricultural practices, and invest in local infrastructure. With support, they can become engines of impact and revitalization that create meaningful work and a pathway to prosperous rural livelihoods for millions, especially young people.
Root Capital meets critical financing needs for these businesses and as these businesses grow, they create career opportunities for the next generation. With the Rising Tide Foundation’s support, Root Capital has built the financial management capacities of more than 110 businesses since 2017. Together we are working to create spaces and opportunities for young people to engage in meaningful, productive pathways with these businesses.
This project is expanding the involvement of community youth in our financial advisory services workshops. Together, we’re showing businesses how tools like mobile-enabled data platforms can grow their businesses by leveraging the expertise of digital natives and create new jobs for young people. Not only does this ensure the long-term vitality of rural communities, but it also nurtures innovation in the next generation—a key to transforming these businesses and deepening their impact on farming families.
Root Capital believes that as the challenges of unrest and force majeure continue to buffet rural communities, we need to put agricultural entrepreneurs in the driver's seat—both as the decision makers, and the investors in change in rural communities. With the support of the Rising Tide Foundation, we’re equipping rural businesses across Mexico and Central America with the tools they need to drive that change.
“This program is ideal for economists with an interest in harnessing the energy and motivation of private enterprises to solve social problems. By nature, social problems emerge in areas where social, political and legal arrangements have not evolved as support for private enterprise. ”
- Charles R. Plott
PRIVATE SECTOR SOLUTION
MARKETS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS' TRANSPORTATION
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Country: United States / Australia
The project goal is to implement markets and demonstrate the benefits where markets are seldom employed. The initial focus has been the procurement of government services, one of the fastest growing areas of governments. Heavily bureaucratic, administrative allocation processes are universally regarded as the only option. Markets are not used because no one knows how to organize them to solve the underlying social problems. The research strategy is to choose a simple, special case to serve as an exemplar of many cases, and to craft and implement market modifications of the administrative processes used. The strategy addresses why markets have not automatically emerged and what dimensions of the regulations might be replaced by special forms of markets and new technologies.
The initial effort is focused on administrative procedures used for procuring school transportation for disadvantaged children. The allocation issues involve economic environments theoretically identified as common causes of poor (or impossible) market performance: public goods, service quality issues, coordination complexity, non-convexities, nonexistence of equilibrium, poor information and thin markets. The laboratory experimental and theory guided design involves user preference integration, route designs that clearly define services to be procured, auction design that supports competition for coordinated service provisions, experimental testing, and implementation.
The research demonstrates that markets can be used. A new market-based process produced improved transportation services for the children (e.g, 53% travel time reduction) for the same cost, support from teachers and families as well as upper levels of administration and government. Robustness analysis (a form of external and internal validity test) demonstrates close relationships among theory, experiments and actual field performance.
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This program is ideal for economists with an interest in harnessing the energy and motivation of private enterprises to solve social problems. By nature, social problems emerge in areas where social, political and legal arrangements have not evolved as support for private enterprise. Solutions can involve conflicts among deeply held scientific beliefs and philosophies. Resolutions can require new technologies, new forms of markets, demonstrations that can require basic science, technical advances, and political skills. The Rising Tide Foundation program is designed to support such work.